The United Nations has announced that the Special Advisor to the Secretary General on Libya and ex-acting head of UNSMIL, Stephanie Williams, will leave its assigned post in Libya at the end of July.
The UN spokesman Farhan Haq said UNSMIL Officer-in-Charge and Mission Coordinator Raisedon Zenenga will step in until a new envoy and head of mission is announced.
On Thursday, the mandate of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) was extended for a mere three months at Russia’s insistence.
Russia’s Deputy Ambassador, Dmitry Polyansky, reiterated Moscow’s position that the UN mission must get a new special representative before it has a longer mandate.
UN special envoy Jan Kubis resigned last November 23 after 10 months on the job, and a number of candidates proposed by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres have been rejected either by council members, Libya, or neighboring countries.
Guterres then appointed veteran American diplomat Stephanie Williams, a former UN deputy special representative in Libya, as his special adviser.
